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2600 goings-on

Entry posted by atari2600land October 12, 2006

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Earlier in the week, I mentioned a 2600 4-switch being up for sale at one of my local used video game stores. Well, yesterday, I took the bus and got it. But the bus ride was a hassle. Because the bus was late getting to the stop to go downtown (after I took it coming back downtown from the store), I missed the bus that I catch to go home. So, what did I do to kill time before the bus I get to go home comes around every hour? Why, bug my mom at work, of course. While there, I swapped the plastic bags the Atari 2600 was in (the handles were beginning to break due to all that stuff being in there), for a backpack. Well, *finally* I got home and tested the thing out. It worked! It scared me for a second when it stopped working, but I looked the thing over and found out I had accidentally switched the channel select switch from 3 over to 2. My question is this: Why is it 2? Why not 4 like all the other ones? Well, no biggy. The only 2 new games I got out of the ones that came with the 2600 were Wizard of Wor and Realsports Boxing (I also got a Sears Berzerk, which, while a rarity 3, I already had an Atari Berzerk, so I didn't really care all that much.) Now I have 8 duplicates (including an unplayable Star Raiders). Another question: Why would Atari release a game using some stupid accessory that would be hard to get? I mean, they probably weren't thinking 20 years from then, but now I have not seen a video touch pad anywhere before or since the last year has passed when I got my first Atari 2600.

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EricBall 241

Posted October 16, 2006

Console history is rife with examples of add-ons which ended up being used for a couple of games. Occasionally add-ons become successfull (like the N64 rumble pack), but more often they never go beyond the title they were released with.

From a manufacturer's perspective, add-on hardware can provide additional profit. It may also make a particular game unique, provide better gameplay or interaction. But to really catch on (like the rumble pack) an add-on really needs to meet two almost opposing goals:

1. Not be a requirement to play the game. Otherwise you lock out people who don't have the add-on (or lead to frustrated consumers who didn't know you need the RAM expansion to play DK64), or force people who already have it to buy it again as a pack-in.

2. Improve the game sufficiently to make the add-on desirable.